Free of Danger
by Beachbeagle and Gecko
Summary: A story set in whydoyouneedtoknow's Harry Potter AU known as the Dangerverse. This picks up roughly where the epilogue of Deathly Hallows leaves off with some changes due to it being an AU. Enjoy!
1. New Beginings

Beachbeagle: So, here's a few note before the fanfic. For one, I Beachbeagle do most of the writing.

Gecko: Only because I Gecko am not very good at it.

Beachbeagle: Still, she's had most of the ideas go by her first so she's got some credit in it.

Gecko: Hey I'm good at ideas I'm just bad at the other parts.

Beachbeagle: Yep! Secondly there shouldn't be any similarities to works you've alreadys seen. If there is, it's coincidence.

Gecko: All credit for creating the dangerverse goes to Whydoyouneedtoknow, we're just taking her characters out for a walk...promise we'll put them back

Beachbeagle: Yeah, there is that. If you see similarities there it's purposeful and we have permission. Last I can't garantee that this future fits to the actual end of Whydoyouneedtoknow's dangerverse stories.

Gecko: I think that's all to say for this first one...enjoy the show folks

Beachbeagle: Oh, and this story can be read by itself but will make much more sense if you read Living with Danger, Living without Danger, Dealing with Danger, and Facing Danger by whydoyouneedtoknow as they explain a lot of the confusing parts away.

Disclaimer:

Anything that comes from the original Harry Potter books by JKR belongs to her.

The main ideas for the dangerverse and some of the characters therein were created by whydoyouneedtoknow.

* * *

**Chapter 1: New Beginings**

A boy sat in the middle of his bed, running a hand through his dark brown hair. His equally dark chocolate eyes, framed by a pair of round-lenses, were fixed on the trunk that sat at its foot. Up until this moment he'd been slightly unwilling to believe the things that were happening, things that all lead up to tomorrow. He'd told himself it wasn't true, coming up with every possible reason, no matter how ridiculous, to deny the inevitable happenings. Meanwhile these events had finally cornered him with no way to deny their existence.

He fell back on the bed, his head hitting his pillow as he sighed in defeat. It was official. He, Kevyn Hollens, was a wizard and would be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry tomorrow along with his twin sister, Keerah. He wasn't upset about the magic, it sounded really fun actually. It wasn't the fact that Hogwarts was a boarding school that bothered him either. Or was it?

_No._He decided. _That's not it either. _He wasn't scared of sleeping in a dorm or being away from home for that long. He'd have Keerah after all, and she was the one he would have missed the most. No, he felt he'd finally placed his finger on why he'd been so against this whole thing.

_It's my friends, _he thought, and it was. For a moment he was mad at his mom and dad for raising him and Keerah and their little brother, Joel, the way they had.

His mom was a witch, though muggleborn. She'd gone to Hogwarts too, then returned home and married their dad who she'd remained sweethearts with despite the odd nature of her boarding school and his being a muggle. Dad had learned her secret and they'd kept it under wraps, raising their children without magic like they had been raised. This meant, of course, going to public schooling and becoming friends with kids their own age, kids who were muggles.

_I hate the word muggle,_he thought, putting a lot of his acidic feeling into the tone he thought it with. His mom had explained that muggle meant a non magical person -

_Like my friends. They're 'muggles'. They don't have magic so they aren't going to Hogwarts and I can't even be allowed to tell them about it._

There, he'd said it. The reason he hated Hogwarts was keeping it secret from everyone he knew except for his family. Mom knew from her years there, and Dad and Joel had learned when Keerah and Kevyn had received their Hogwarts acceptance letters. No one else knew. No one else could know.

Footsteps in the hall made him glance up to see his mother in the doorway.

"Are you done packing?" she asked, not entering his room.

Kevyn nodded, but then also spoke his answer, "Yes."

"Good." She stood there in the silence for a while before asking, "Have you said your goodbyes?"

There it was another reminder of Hogwarts.

"No," he answered, "can I go do that?"

"Yes, but don't take too long."

That was all the invitation he needed. He got up and walked to the door of his room.

"Kevyn..."

"Yes?"

"I know how this feels for you, leaving everyone behind. I know it feels wrong and hard, but it will get easier. I promise. You'll meet new friends there that you can write to about it. It makes it a lot easier to keep from telling your old ones."

He smiled as he left, but it was fake.

_I don't care what you think you understand, _he thought, _because you can't possibly understand how it feels to have something kept from you your whole life that will change everything about what you thought your life would be._

_Where is Kevyn? In the house, or outside?_

"Kevyn! Wait up!" called a voice almost as familiar to him as his own. He stopped and waited as Keerah caught up, watching her. In many ways they looked the same. They had the same eyes and the same hair, which was now the same length because of the tom-boy phase Keerah was going through. They were even the same height.

"Mom said you were going to say goodbye, and I need to too," she said when she'd reached him. "Besides, all our friends are the same people."

"True," was all he said, though his mind was on how this could be seen as a down side of having a twin. Then started walking with a glance back over his shoulder to call, "Coming?"

Keerah didn't need a second hint, so the two walked off to say goodbye to their friends for the school year.

* * *

"When are you leaving?" asked Kat.

Keerah turned to look at her friend. Kat was a smaller, brunette girl with hazel eyes that was currently sitting between her and Kevyn. They were in Kat's backyard reluctant to leave their 'best friend since they were little' for what they knew await them.

"Tomorrow," answered Keerah, "We have to be at Kings Cross to get on the train by eleven."

"Huh," came Kat's reply. It wasn't really a question, more like a simple acknowledgment of the answer. Keerah glanced again. Kat seemed to be in deep thought, and Kevyn was staring at the clouds with a far off expression.

_He's been acting weird lately_, thought Keerah,_ almost like he doesn't want to go._ She thought this wasn't quite the reason her brother was acting like it was but was sure it had to do with Hogwarts. His weird behavior had, of course, started when they'd received their letters.

Her mind drifted back to their eleventh birthday earlier that summer.

* * *

"Come on birthday girl, open it," said Keerah's mom to her.

Keerah held an envelope with her name on it in bright green ink. The handwriting was very scripted, but the ink definitely was the catching point.

"Is there one for Kevyn too?" she asked.

"Yes," said her mom, "I suppose you want to wait and open it together."

"Open it together, yes. Wait, no. I was thinking wake him up. It's our birthday and it's summer, he should be up and enjoying himself."

With that Keerah charged up the stairs. Her room was right across the hallway from her brother's. Where she would normally turn right she turned left and paused just long enough to check that the door wasn't shut. She didn't feel like smacking into it.

Satisfied she opened it and took a running leap onto the bed containing her twin.

There was a vocal response of "Keerah!" as well as a shove which almost knocked her off the bed. Her brother, however, was awake and typically that meant he was staying that way.

Their mom came in at this point with the envelope for Kevyn. Keerah realized she still had hers and that it was slightly bent from tackling her sleeping brother. Not a loss, she figured, since it was what was inside that mattered.

Kevyn received his from their mom and Keerah gave him the chance to stare at his name in the green ink on the outside. Then she gave him a nudge and said, "One, two…"

On three the two had at the envelopes, both opening them rather slowly. The countdown had only been a pun of the 'twin presents' their parents gave them. Typically a present where they both got the same thing was a 'twin present' and thus they had to open them at the same time. Their parents would count to three and the twins would tare into the paper to discover what was inside.

Keerah got her envelope open first and began to read the letter inside.

"Dear Miss Hollens, you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…."

It seemed almost unrealistically real. Magic was fantasy, but every word down to the signature was in a different handwriting than that of either of their parents. The letter was signed by a Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts headmistress.

"Mom, is this a joke," she heard her brother ask, he must have finished his letter too.

"No, it's not," responded their mother. She looked at each twin in turn as she responded, "I am a witch, but your father isn't magical. Since he technically isn't allowed to see magic we had to raise the two of you and your brother as we were raised."

"Wait, why were you raised without magic," asked Kevyn.

There was a pause and then she continued, "You see, I was what is called a muggleborn, a witch or wizard who is born to non-magical parents."

The twins sat for a while as it sunk in then their mom said, "You'll be going to the same school I did and we'll be making a trip in August to pick up school supplies."

With that she left the twins together.

"This is cool," said Keerah, "a secret school, magic…"

"I guess," said Kevyn.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I guess I just need some time to adjust to the idea."

"Are you sure?" Keerah thought she was a pretty good judge of her brother's emotions.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm sure." Then he gave her another shove and said, "Now get out so I can change. I'm awake now and I'm not going back to sleep.

* * *

It had been just over a month now and he hadn't, 'adjusted to the idea' from what she could tell. His weird behavior had also included not wanting to talk about it, his lack of enthusiasm at going to Diagon Alley, and his overall reluctance to do anything related to leaving tomorrow.

_Worst of all he hasn't even told me the reason, meaning this is something he feels he either can or needs to handle on his own._ She has her suspicions that he'd change after getting to Hogwarts, but she always had some doubts about her ability to read her brother. Suddenly, she realized she'd missed something Kat had said.

"What was that?"

"Oh, I was just asking what the name of the school was," said Kat.

"We're not really supposed to say," she said. To this Kevyn muttered something.

"What was that?" asked Keerah.

"I said it's a stupid rule," said Kevyn, "I don't see what's so important about it if we have to keep it hidden."

"We have to keep it secret because it's important."

"It still seems stupid."

"What's the number?"

"What?" Keerah turned to Kat. _Did she ask what I think she did?_

"What's the number? For the platform where you're getting on the train?"

"I don't know," answered Keerah, fibbing, "I think it was something like nine or ten."

"Is it nine and three quarters?" asked Kat. Kevyn's jaw dropped and Keerah stared for a moment before she regained composure. There was no way Kat could know. She'd been just joking.

_How did she hit it so dead on then?_

That was a point. Could she know? Muggleborn witches and wizards existed. It wasn't impossible for Kat to be going too. Still some part of Keerah nagged her to keep her mouth shut. She risked a glance and Kevyn and got a look that said, _What should we do?_

She decided the best move would be to cover.

"There's no such thing as platform nine and three quarters," said Keerah.

"Yeah," said Kevyn, catching on though he obviously didn't like it, "why'd you ask a dumb question like that?"

Kat didn't look convinced as she said, "If the school is called Hogwarts then yes there is."

Keerah wasn't sure her brother's mouth could open more than it was right now. She shook her head and said, "So you're….."

"A muggleborn witch?" supplied Kat.

Several emotions flashed thought Keerah's mind, surprise, disbelief, and confusion at the forefront. At the same time there was no emotion, just the overwhelming numbness of shock. There was no way Kat could know what she knew unless she really was a witch, and yet it all seemed too impossible to be true.

She also noticed that she had been wrong about Kevyn's mouth, it seemed to have opened even wider than before at Kat's words. She tried to make her mouth work, but no sound came out.

Kevyn seemed to get over the shock first because he said, "This is so cool!"

"Yeah, Looks like we don't have to say goodbye after all," said Kat with a grin.

"Guess not," Keerah muttered, finally starting to feel joy at the new turn of events.

For a while no one said anything. Kevyn chose that time to glance at his watch.

"Whoa! Keerah we need to go. It's getting late."

If her brother's watch hadn't convinced her, the slowly setting sun would have. Keerah turned to Kat.

"See you tomorrow then?"

"Where else would I be?"

"Nowhere," said Kevyn.

The three friends said quick goodbyes and the twins took off in the direction of their house. As they walked Keerah noticed that her brother was smiling for real for the first time since they'd gotten their letters. It was finally looking like their first year at Hogwarts was going to be ok.

* * *

The next day Kings Cross Station was invaded by what seemed like a small army of children and adults. Five of the children pushed carts with trunks, one of whom stopped after almost tripping over an untied shoe.

"David," said a woman stopping by him, "I told you to tie those earlier."

"I did, mom, but it came untied," he answered.

"Try double knotting this time. Now let's catch up with the rest."

David Weasley stood up and began steering his cart after his mom and his other relatives. Most people would have been surprised at the size of his family, but most people didn't have a mom with two brothers and a sister and adoptive parents all of whom had kids eleven or younger living with them.

There were a total of 25 people all going towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. They had to do this in staggered groups of course as 25 people could not all fit through the entrance to platform nine and three quarters at the same time. David and his mom were the last ones to get there.

"Ready?" she asked him.

He glanced up to see her smiling down and nodded unsurely.

"I'll go with you if you want," she said.

He manage a barely audible, "Please." And she put her hands next to his on the cart. Then they sprinted towards the barrier and David prepared for the crash he thought would be inevitable.

It never came and he opened his eyes to stare at the red train known as the Hogwarts Express. Smoke billowed out from the stack and gathered around it like fog until you were close up. All around children of various ages were saying goodbye to relative and hello to friends and running to the train cars in search of a compartment to sit in.

A quick glance around and he spotted his aunts, uncles, and cousins near the entrance to a train car. Arriving there he saw nervous smiles on the faces of his cousins Nadia Potter and Irene Black, his uncle Marcus Black, and his twin sister Esther. The five of them were all eleven and would be attending their first year at Hogwarts.

He glanced at the other family members gathered around him. There were his Uncle Harry and his Aunt Ginny with Noah and James, who were Nadia's brothers. His Mom and Dad were next with his younger brother Brian. Beside them was Uncle Draco and Aunt Luna with Bobby, Jacob, and Cissy. They were Irene's family. Then there was Uncle Neville and Aunt Meghan and his cousins Liam and Amy.

Turning around he saw Danger, Moony, with Abby and John and Padfoot, and Aletha with Jason. Jason was another uncle. His relationship with Abby and John was described as being complicated. They were Danger and Moony's kids and he considered them to be cousins because his mom was Danger's sister, but knew that Nadia considered them to be more of an aunt and uncle because of her dad thought of both Danger and Moony as parents.

"So," said Danger, giving him a hug, "ready for this?"

"Not really," admitted David, "but I can't exactly back out of it."

"It'll be fine. The sorting isn't anything too scary and you'll have four people with you through most of the waiting." She indicated Nadia, Irene, Esther, and Marcus who were getting goodbyes from other family members at the time.

"Anything else I should know about?" he asked with a grin.

"You know me too well," said Danger with a chuckle. "Yes, I had a vision, but it's not of anything dangerous as far as we can figure out. Marcus has a written copy that you all can look over on the train."

Suddenly the train whistle blew and the other kids on the platform began sprinting towards the train.

"You need to get going," Danger said, "or you'll miss the train. Have a good time and behave yourself."

"That could almost be interpreted as an oxymoron," David said as he climbed into the train car.

"You know what I meant perfectly well."

Whether or not he did, he didn't get the chance to say it as the train started moving and he was more occupied with waiving to his family before he shut the door and prepared for the journey.

* * *

"This is boring," said Marcus staring out the window. They'd been on the train for a while and he was the only one who didn't have something to do right now.

"You're the one who didn't have the foresight to think about bringing something to entertain yourself on the train," Nadia scolded before returning to her book.

"It's not fair, all of you thought of it and didn't tell me."

"Actually," said Esther, "David wouldn't have if I hadn't told him. He would have been in the same boat."

"You know," said David, "speaking of foresight now would be a good time to go over that prophecy Danger gave you. We're all here and this is private enough."

Irene's mind finally drew itself out of Narnia at this moment. She'd been half listening to the conversation up until now. "What prophecy?" she asked. "I didn't hear about it."

"That's because you weren't the one talking to Danger before we got on the train," said David with a self satisfied grin.

_It's not like I wouldn't have if I could have, _thought Irene, _but you were with her then so I decided to talk to Padfoot instead. _She didn't say this out loud though, instead she said, "Whatever. It's not worth starting a fight over."

"So where is this prophecy?" asked Nadia.

"Right here," said Marcus shifting so he could pull the folded piece of parchment from his pocket. The other four gathered around him and read.

_The horse and tiger, dragon and coon_

_Cubs of Pride they will meet soon._

_The horse among the lions dwells,_

_And of her second half she tells._

_He is the coon who dwells up high._

_With the eagles shall he fly._

_Dragon dwells beneath the lake_

_Within the house of silver snakes._

_The tiger is both loyal and shy_

_So with the badgers does she lie._

_The four shall meet, but fast shall part_

_For dragon knows not his own heart._

_The dragon see's not his mistake_

_Which from him his three friends shall take._

_The cat shall help the dragon see_

_His fault which took the other three._

_Starwing's daughter, seek the coon._

_Heal his heart with friendship's tune._

_Horse will need help to forgive._

_Lion's daughter, help must give._

_Both once healed the tiger seek,_

_For her heart is where she's weak._

_If chance is taken fate made right_

_The broken foursome reunite,_

_But heed you not this prophecy_

_Forever broken they shall be._

_When thou has made the turmoil right_

_Then seek the Heart by dark of night._

_The nine shall swear by blood and gold,_

_Side-by-side the hands they hold,_

_Are with them one, and thus shall be_

_A new born Pride for all to see._

"Now that's as clear as mud," said David, "and most of it doesn't seem to be about us."

"And once again the literate-ness of Dave strikes him dumb," said Esther.

"But it's not!" said David with an annoyed expression.

"Wrong," Irene stated bluntly, "the part about 'cubs of pride' means us. Our parents called, and still call, themselves the pride. It's a term for a group of lions, which means children would be cubs."

"Right," he said sarcastically, "if you're so smart what does the rest mean?"

"Well," said Nadia looking at the sheet, "The tiger, horse, dragon, and coon are four people we're going to meet. That's what the first two lines mean."

"Right," said Esther, "and this next part tells us how to find them."

"The horse among the lions dwells, And of her second half she tells. He is the coon who dwells up high. With the eagles shall he fly. Dragon dwells beneath the lake Within the house of silver snakes. The tiger is both loyal and shy So with the badgers does she lie," read Marcus, "lions and eagles and snakes and badgers, oh my."

Irene chuckled at Marcus. _Lion's and eagles and_..._wait_…"You know, I think 'Dorothy' may be on to something," She said.

"Huh?" said Marcus, "What do you mean? It was a joke."

"I know, but think about the animals. Where have we heard of lions, eagles, badgers, and snakes before?"

"The house mascots!" shouted Nadia.

"Exactly! It's telling us they're all in different houses. The horse is a girl who will be in Gryffindor, the coon a boy in Ravenclaw, the dragon a boy in Slytherin, and the tiger a girl in Hufflepuff."

"It's also saying we're going to be friends with all of them," said Esther, "which means we'll have friendships that break with the normal tradition of friendships being with the people in your house and especially the normal rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"Well," said David, "if all of that is true then even though there isn't any 'real' danger we're certainly in for an interesting year."

After that everyone's minds drifted off to other things, the remaining parts that they hadn't figured out forgotten in other distractions.


	2. Starwing's Daughter

**Chapter 2: Starwing's Daughter**

"So, what house are you hoping to be in?" asked Kevyn.

Louis James glanced at the dark-haired boy, thinking over the incidents that had led up to their meeting. His face had been as red as his untamable hair when he had accidentally crashed into Kevyn while looking for a place to sit. Now he was sitting in a compartment with the boy and two girls. One was Keerah, Kevyn's twin which was more obvious due to their similar appearances. The other was Kat, the twins' friend.

He felt very out of place among these three people who shared a noticeably close bond of friendship, but some part of him hoped they would be the first of many friends he made this year.

Drawing his mind back to the present he answered, "I don't know. It's kind of hard to tell what kind of person you are and the houses are grouped by different personality traits."

"Huh," said Keerah, "didn't realize that. It does make it harder to figure out then."

"How come you didn't know that?" he asked, "I thought most wizards and witches would."

"We didn't really even know about Hogwarts until we got our letters," said Kevyn, "Keerah and I are half-blood raised muggle and Kat is muggleborn."

"Oh."

That put an interesting twist on things. He hadn't thought about the fact they might not be pureblood like him. Louis toyed with the idea for a while finally deciding that it didn't matter because he never would have known had they not told him and blood purity was over-rated in the opinion of his parents anyways.

"So what are the personality traits for each house?" asked Kat. It was the first thing Louis had heard the smaller girl say.

"Well," he started, "Gryffindor is mostly bravery, Ravenclaw is big on intellect, Hufflepuff is loyalty, and Slytherin is ambition."

"Keerah's a sure placer for Gryffindor," said Kevyn, "I don't think I've seen her scared that much."

"Well then you're a Ravenclaw because mom always says you're too smart for your own good," said Keerah.

This digressed into an argument over personality traits of people that Louis found himself enjoying and began to feel that this year wouldn't be so bad after all with these three around.

* * *

Selene Weasley walked by compartment doors looking for the one containing her cousins. _Funny thing is it can be applied to any of the five_, she thought, _though some of them are a little more distant relations than others._ Absentmindedly she smoothed out the Hogwarts robes she had recently put on because of how close to the school they were getting. 

Laughter could be faintly heard from a compartment just ahead, and a glance inside revealed the people she was looking for.

"Selene!" shouted Nadia, jumping up to hug her as she opened the door.

"Hey Nadia, Irene, Marcus, Esther, David," she said, glancing around the compartment, "I came to warn you that we're getting close so you'd better get your robes on."

Marcus glanced out the window and said a rude word, "You're right. We never would have noticed."

"Going with a natural look for today?" asked David as he and Marcus stepped out with Selene to let the three girls change.

"Yeah," said Selene, running her hand through her red hair, "Though I might change it to house colors after being sorted just for kicks." Selene had inherited her mother's ability to change her appearance at will.

"So how are Uncle Charlie and Aunt Tonks?" asked Marcus.

"Dad's doing good with the dragons, though one of them got mad for some reason yesterday, and Mom's been doing the 'same old, same old' at the Ministry," she replied while thinking, _Funny how everyone still calls mom by her maiden name, though she'd be pissed if anyone ever called her Aunt Dora._

After a little more waiting everyone, Selene included, was back in the compartment and they were showing Selene the prophecy.

"Well," she said, "I agree with what you've figured out, but I really don't get the rest right now."

"Neither do we," said Nadia, "we just figured the more heads the better especially when all the heads belong to eleven year olds."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," said Irene, "and with Danger's prophecies they always seem to make sense after they've happened or just before they happen."

"True," said Esther, "and we seem to have figured the most important part to know out so far."

"Other than who the tiger, horse, dragon, and coon are," said Selene, looking at it again, "maybe more of the rest will make sense once you've found them."

"Then it looks like we need to pay attention to the sorting," said David, "because the four houses are the major hints as to who they are."

"That and the genders," said Irene, "It refers to the coon and dragon as 'he' and the tiger and horse as 'she'."

"So we're looking for girls in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and boys in Slytherin and Ravenclaw," said Esther, "that's important to know because it narrows the list quite a bit."

_Yes, _thought Selene, _it narrows the list, but will it be enough to indicate who these people are._ She had kept one part she'd figured out to herself, figuring it wouldn't do any good to know it now, but the lines bothered her. '_If chance is taken fate made right the broken foursome reunite, but heed you not this prophecy forever broken they shall be.' _It sounded like a warning that if they can't figure out this thing then the horse, coon, and tiger will never forgive the dragon and they'll stay parted for good She hoped she was wrong, but a nagging voice said that those lines couldn't mean anything else.

The conversation drifted off to other things after that and Selene forgot her worry about the warning in her growing excitement over what lay ahead.

* * *

"Firs' years over here," called a well recognized voice when Nadia stepped off the train. 

"Hagrid!" she called as she came running up.

"Hi there Nadia," said the half-giant, "yer all comin' with me right?"

Nadia nodded as Irene came in to view followed by Esther, David, Marcus, and Selene. They crowded around Hagrid for hugs as they're parents had brought them for many visits over the years

"Firs' years over here," he called again, then turned to the cubs, "you'd all better split into groups and get in the boats. It looks like it might rain and we don't want to be caught out here if it does."

They walked off to the boats arguing about how to divide up. Nadia was paying more attention to her family than where she was going and almost ran into a boy. She apologized and watched as he walked off with three other people. Her mind registered the two boys two girls grouping as a mere coincidence as many boats were grouped in similar random fashion.

_Just because I want to solve the prophecy doesn't mean I need to jump to any conclusions about people I see, _She thought.

Without a second thought to it she walked over to the boat Esther and David were in and sat down to wait till they started. Eventually they got underway and the boat contained Marcus as well since Selene and Irene were sitting with a few of Selene's friends that she'd ridden the train with.

The ride across the lake was uneventful, but luck seemed to be with them. As soon as they got to the castle it began to rain, but everyone was inside before too long so no one got very wet. When they finally stood in the entry way off of the Great Hall, Irene came back to stand with them until they were called.

_

* * *

This isn't too bad, _Thought Kevyn_, Mom never would tell us what happens when you get sorted, but I doubt it's anything too horrible._ Most of what he really feared was that everyone would be watching as they were sorted. He wasn't much for being the center of attention. 

Suddenly the doors to the Great Hall opened. With a deep breath he gathered his courage and followed Kat and Keerah through the door with Louis behind him. They'd made pretty good friends with the boy on the train and Kevyn hoped it was a friendship that would become stronger over the school year.

One of the Professors carried out a wooden stool and a hat and set them front and center in the room. _Now what…? _Kevyn started, but his question was answered before it was finished. A rip near the brim of the hat opened and it began to sing.

_Gather 'round young students,_

_And listen as I say_

_That I'm the Hogwarts sorting hat_

_And I live for this day._

_Once in every school year,_

_At the very start,_

_I'm taken out and brought right here_

_So I can play my part._

_I see what lies inside you,_

_The secrets of your heart,_

_The many things about you_

_That shall set you apart._

_You may hear me call Gryffindor_

_When I have looked you through,_

_For if your heart is brave and bold_

_That is just what I'll do._

_I may just call out Ravenclaw_

_If in your head I find_

_A willingness to learn,_

_And a thoughtful mind._

_If loyalty and hard work_

_Are things in you I see,_

_Then I will say that Hufflepuff_

_Is where you should be._

_Yet if I search your soul_

_And find ambition there_

_Then I will call out Slytherin_

_For you will fit best there._

_So step right up and try me on_

_And put aside your fears._

_I've yet to place a person wrong_

_And I've done this for years._

_So that's how sorting works, _thought Kevyn, as everyone applauded the hat's song. Then the teacher who had brought the chair out came back up with a scroll, unrolled it, and began to read.

"Black, Irene."

A blond haired girl detached herself from a group of five people and walked over to the stool setting the hat on her head.

_RAVENCLAW!_

_Simple, very simple, _he heard himself thinking as one of the tables cheered and the girl went to sit there.

"Black, Marcus."

A boy from the group Irene had been in went over to the hat.

_GRYFFINDOR!_

A different table cheered and the boy went there. He noticed the colors of red and gold were prominent. Blue and silver were the prominent ones at the table Irene had gone to. He began to slack on paying attention until a particular name was called.

"Hart, Kathleen."

He gave Kat a hug as she walked over to the stool and set the hat on her head.

_HUFFLEPUFF!_

He applauded for his friend as she went to sit at a table where people were wearing yellow and black. _House colors, _he realized, _just like they have mascots. It's to tell the houses apart._

"Hollens, Keerah."

"Good luck," he said, hugging Keerah.

"You too," she whispered back.

She walked over to the stool and set the hat on her head.

_GRYFFINDOR!_

The red and gold table cheered again and Keerah walked over there sitting next to the one boy… Marcus.

"Hollens, Kevyn"

Suddenly butterflies were in Kevyn's stomach. The walk to the stool seemed to take ages and all he could think about were all the people staring at him. He sat down and placed the hat on his head.

_Hmmmmm..., _he heard it say, _you have some courage, yes. That girl I just sorted was your twin, yet it doesn't seem you mind being separated that much. You're very different from her so you wouldn't really fit the same house very well anyways. I think you'll fit best in…_

_RAVENCLAW!_

The table clad in blue and silver cheered and he managed to work his way over and sit next to the blond girl, Irene, with out feeling too self conscious. He even realized after a while that he was smiling.

He sat and waited for one final name to be called.

"James, Louis"

Louis walked over to the stool and set the hat on his head.

_SLYTHERIN!_

Kevyn watched as his friend walked over to the table dressed prominently green and silver. _Darn, _he thought, _we're all in different houses._ This would make staying friends with Louis harder, but he doubted it was impossible to interact with people from other houses. He only had to hope he was right.

* * *

Irene watched as Nadia, Ether, David, and Selene were sorted into Gryffindor along with Marcus. _I don't care_, she thought. She had noticed the lines of the prophecy that read '_Starwing's daughter, seek the coon. Heal his heart with friendship's tune._' Starwing was her mom's animagus name and since the prophecy had indicated the coon as being someone in Ravenclaw it made sense that she would also be in the house and therefore would be the likeliest candidate for helping him. 

_Besides, _she thought_, if I'm going to help him with that we'll have to be friends so I won't be completely alone here._

Professor McGonagall stepped forward. She was the new headmistress Irene knew.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, both new and returning students. As we have had a lack of changes this year we have little new to report except that Hogwarts is once again doing a musical production this fall. Times for tryouts will be posted on the bulletin board in the next few weeks. Students from all years are welcome to try out."

With a wave of her hand the feast appeared on the table and after a short round of applause everyone began eating. It was then that Irene decided to learn more about the boy sitting next to her. A glance at him gave her all of his appearance. Dark brown hair that was messy but tamable, chocolate eyes that hid behind round glasses, and something about him told her he may seem quiet but it was only a mask.

The girl over with her cousins at Gryffindor had the same last name and a glance revealed a very similar appearance. Short, dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, but she didn't have glasses and her face was rounder whereas his was thinner. She suspected they might be twins like Esther and David.

With this she turned to him and said, "Hi, I'm Irene Black."

"Kevyn Hollens," he said after finishing the bite of food he'd taken. He extended his hand and she shook it.

"You know, my cousins could learn a thing or two about manners from you."

He chuckled and said, "My mom never lets us talk with our mouths full and I just figured polite habits should extend here too. Who are your cousins?"

She pointed over to the Gryffindor table. "Marcus, Nadia, Esther, David, and Selene. They're over there."

"That's funny," he said, "My twin sister, Keerah, is in Gryffindor too."

She smiled and felt she may have made her first friend of the school year when a sudden thought came to her.

"The horse among the lions dwells and of her second half she tells. He is the coon who dwells up high. With the eagles shall he fly," she muttered to herself. It suddenly made sense. Kevyn had to be the coon and Keerah the horse. They were in the right houses, the right genders, and they were twins. _Second half, how could we forget how David and Esther, or even Dad and Aunt Hermione, act like they're two halves of the same person sometimes? That part was telling us the horse and coon are twins._

She went back to eating feeling pleased with herself for finding half the people they were searching for all by herself.

* * *

Kevyn sat on the bed with the blue curtains on one side drawn back and staring out the window. His mind was so full of everything that had gone on today he felt like he'd never get to sleep. Had he felt like this at home all he would have done was cross the hall to Keerah's room and talk with her until they both had everything out of their systems and could go to sleep. 

_I can't do that now though_, he thought, _because Keerah's in Gryffindor and I can't get into that house. I don't know where it is._

He reached beside him and picked up something he was sure his mom had packed in for him. It was an old stuffed animal of a cartoon character their dad had liked. It had been meant for him and Keerah to share, but he'd clung to it so they'd gotten Keerah a stuffed polar bear and let Kevyn keep the black and white comic strip dog.

He hugged it to him and stared out the window again. The Ravenclaw common room and dorms were in a tower so he could see loads of things from here, maybe more if it wasn't so dark outside.

Finally giving up on clearing his head he took off his glasses, lay down, and closed the curtains. Pulling the blankets up, he lay there with his head on his pillow staring into the blurry darkness. His eyelids started to feel heavy and soon enough he'd drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

* * *

Beachbeagle: Ok, note to all. I only updated so quickly this time because this was the second half of what was supposed to be chapter one. I figured people would rather I separate it into two 8 page chapters than have one 16 page chapter. 

Gecko: Bit long that idea...so we made two chapters.

Beachbeagle: Yes. Please do not expect this sort of speed every time. It will vary depending on how college is going for both of us.

Gecko: And how fast we actually get inspiration to write a long enough chapter...meaning if we only have two pages we'll wait for more inspiration.

Beachbeagle: Of course you can always encourage me to get ideas by reviewing. I tend to get more inspiration when I'm happy.

Gecko: True...he also gets hyper but I don't mind that since I live an hour away and his craziness on IM is limited.

Beachbeagle: Yes. She only gets random posts rather than the brunt force of my energy. Anyways, that's all for this chapter except a note that I will be trying to create a spot on my webpage for review responses soon. For now I'm putting them on our profile.

Gecko: Adios


	3. Enter the Tiger and Dragon

Beachbeagle: Note to all. Things start picking up in this chapter. Scenes were rather long in chapters 1 and 2 because I had lots to say in them. There's more of a variety in length in this chapter so a lot more can happen in the same amount of pages. Also I tried to make this one a little longer by request of a reviewer.

**

* * *

Chapter 3: Enter the Tiger and Dragon**

Nadia walked over to where Keerah sat at the Gryffindor table. They'd all slept in the Hogwarts Den last night, and if what Irene had told her in den last night was right Keerah was the horse in the prophecy and that meant Nadia especially would need to befriend the other girl.

"Hey, Keerah Hollens, right?" said Nadia, sitting down. "Mind if I join you?"

Keerah glanced up and smiled, "Nadia Potter, right?" After a nod from Nadia she went on, "Sure, feel free. Will the others be coming to sit here too?"

"Yes, they will," said Nadia.

"Aren't you all related? One of you said that."

"David did. Yes, they're my cousins and my uncle."

"Your uncle? Explain to me how that works."

Nadia smiled inwardly. Keerah had met everyone but Irene last night, but no one had bothered to explain their relationship to her. She went through the long version, explaining while eating the important parts of the history of the Pack and Pride.

"So first we have Esther, David, and their brothers Brian and Tim who are the kids of my Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. Next there's Irene and her siblings, Jacob, Cissy, and Bobby, and my Uncle Draco and Aunt Luna. Next is me and I've got two brothers, Noah and James. The last of us are Aunt Meghan and Captain and my cousins Liam and Amy."

"So where do Marcus and Selene fit in?" asked Keerah.

"I'm getting there. Marcus is Padfoot and Letha's son so that makes him our uncle technically. He has a brother named Jason. There's also Abby and John, they're Danger and Moony's daughter and son. Their relationship to the rest of us is complicated. As far as Selene, her parents are my Uncle Charlie and Aunt Tonks. They weren't part of the Pack or the Pride."

"I think I get it," said Keerah.

"We're a hard family to grasp at first," said Nadia, "you'll get it eventually."

* * *

Meanwhile Kevyn was getting the same litany from Irene. 

"Wow," he said afterwards, "and I thought my family was big." Then he proceeded to yawn.

_I am not a morning person_, he thought in his head.

Irene grinned then picked up a piece of toast and stuck it in Kevyn's open mouth. Kevyn gave her an annoyed look to which she responded, "You'd better eat. We've only got so long for breakfast and then classes start."

Irene read over their schedule while they ate. In fairly short order they were on their way to class.

_I'm walking through the hallway to class with my friend_ thought Kevyn as he glanced around the hallway hoping people weren't looking at him. He stopped looking suddenly. _My friend…I like the sound of that._

* * *

Louis looked around him as he walked back to the Slytherin common room after class. 

_I've got friends,_ He thought to himself.

He looked to his left at Lucius Kane, the blond haired, blue eyed boy he'd befriended last night. This morning Kane had introduced Louis to several of his friends that he'd known through pure-blood circles his parents were in.

"Hey, James," called one of the boys, Louis made a mental note to learn the names of everyone quickly, "quit lagging behind."

Louis sped up, catching the group as they opened the passageway to the common room.

"Got to learn to keep up," said Kane, letting Louis go through the entrance first.

Louis grinned and promised to do so. He'd almost completely forgotten about Kat and the twins. _You'd do better to forget about them completely_, he heard a voice in his head say, _it's not like you'll ever see them again. They're in different houses and you weren't that good of friends with them yet._

He shook his head to rid it of the voice, but some part of him felt the voice was right. He hadn't known Kevyn, Keerah, and Kat that well, and now Keerah was a Gryffindor so a friendship with her would be extremely frowned upon. _Besides, _he thought, _there really isn't much likelihood I'll see them again soon._

He didn't realize how wrong that thought would soon be proven.

* * *

Kevyn took a detour on the way from potions class to glance at the bulletin board near the great hall. In the week they had been at Hogwarts there hadn't been news of auditions for the play yet. He wasn't sure yet if he was interested or not, but it seemed like it would be fun. 

"Look," Irene said when the got there, "there's a new posting."

_**AUDITIONS FOR **_**HONK!**

_**12-13 September, 8:00 pm, Great Hall**_

_No previous experience necessary. However, please bring a song to sing, or be prepared to learn one, be ready to sight read a scene from the play, and wear loose clothes for the dance audition. Be ready to indicate part desired, or if you will accept any part in which you are cast. _

So here it was, the sign bearing the news he'd been looking for. Did he dare try out? He read the sheet over and over, looking down the list of parts.

"What's _Honk!_?" he heard Irene ask.

"It's the name of the play," said Kevyn, "it says here that '_Honk!_ is a musical rendition of the muggle children's story _The Ugly Duckling_. The characters are all animals and actors will dress in costumes that are suggestive of the animals they portray.'"

"Are you going to audition?" asked Irene. She gave him a look that said, '_I know you're not as quiet as you seem to be.'_

_If only you knew_, he thought, _why I make myself seem so shy and quiet. People don't tease you as much if they hardly notice you're there._ She did have a point though, and this was completely different than the muggle school he used to go to. Could he be himself here without worrying about what people thought?

"Tell you what," he said, "I will if you will."

"Deal," said Irene. They shook hands on it before she added, "I was going to try out anyways and so were my cousins. Our parents and Aletha have been teaching us to sing for a long time."

"So that was a trick to get me to tryout?"

"How could it have been a trick? You suggested it."

They turned to go back to the common room and Kevyn bumped into someone. Looking to see who it was he came face to face with a very familiar person.

"Kevyn!"

"Kat! How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing okay. I've made a few friends I like in Hufflepuff house. I see you have at least one Ravenclaw friend."

Kevyn glanced at Irene, blushing. "Geez I'm and idiot," he said, "I didn't introduce you. Irene, this is Kat Hart, a friend from before Hogwarts. Kat, this is my friend Irene Black."

"Nice to meet you," said Kat, extending a hand.

Irene shook it and said, "So you knew Kevyn before you came to Hogwarts?"

"Kevyn, Keerah, and I have been friends since we were five," said Kat with a smile.

"Oh, so I'm sure you have plenty of interesting stories of a much younger Kevyn."

"Let's not get into those," said Kevyn. His face was beet red at the thought of some of the stories Kat could tell Irene.

"You know what," said Irene, "my cousins and I are supposed to visit Hagrid this weekend. Do you want to come along? The offer is for both of you."

"Hagrid… The gamekeeper?" Kat asked in confusion.

"He's an old family friend," explained Irene, "he knew our parents when they were little and we've been going to visit him since before we could remember. I'm sure he'd like you two and he's really nice. Besides, my cousins might invite Keerah to come."

"We've seen them walking to classes together," explained Kevyn when Kat looked perplexed by Irene's last statement.

"Sounds great," said Kat finally, "it would be fun to meet your cousins and to see Keerah again."

"Yeah," said Kevyn, "Thanks for offering."

"Great," said Irene, "Kat, can you meet us down here around noon on Saturday?"

"Sure"

"We've got to get back to the Ravenclaw common room, but it's been nice to see you again," said Kevyn, giving Kat a quick hug.

"You too, and nice to meet you Irene."

"See you on Saturday."

* * *

Kat paced the floor by the bulletin board and glanced at her watch. It was 11:58 A.M.; there was no reason to be nervous. Kevyn and Irene would be here just like they promised. Besides, they never had said exactly at 12:00. 

_No, they said around noon. That means reasonably anytime just before or after_, she reminded herself. Still, she was worried this was a joke and she'd be stood up. Something about the way the houses interacted so little told her it wasn't common for there to be interaction between them outside of class.

Sure enough her fears were proven wrong as the pair of Ravenclaws walked into view chatting animatedly. As soon as they got to her they paused in the conversation to say hello before heading out the doors and starting towards Hagrid's hut.

"What were you two talking about?" asked Kat, wanting to start a conversation.

"I was trying to convince Kevyn to stop being so nervous," said Irene.

Kevyn gave a weak chuckle at this statement."

"What does he have to be nervous about?" Kat was confused.

"We, that's him, my cousins and I, are auditioning for the play tonight," answered Irene matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that's right!" she said, feeling like smacking her forehead, "So that was why I ran into you by the bulletin board the other day. You were looking at the announcement about auditions."

"Yes, and he's trying to get out of it. We made a deal that we would both audition."

"That was before I knew you'd already planned on doing it," said Kevyn. It was the first thing he'd said since greeting Kat.

"You made the offer without finding out more first," said Irene. Kevyn looked like he was going to say more, but Irene put a hand up in a clear sign that the conversation was over. Kat looked around and realized why. They were standing on the front step of the gamekeeper's hut.

Irene walked up and knocked on the door. From inside came a barking noise and the sound of heavy footsteps. Then the door opened and Hagrid's face came into view, or rather his shaggy beard as Kat wasn't looking up high enough to see the half-giant's face at first.

"Irene," said Hagrid, hugging her, "good ter see yeh. I see you brought a few more. Who might these two be?"

"Hagrid, this is Kevyn Hollens," said Irene, indicating Kevyn, "and Kat Hart." She pointed at Kat.

"Hollens eh?" Hagrid turned back into the hut. "Nadia, didn' yeh say her name was Keerah Hollens?" He seemed to point at someone in the hut.

Kevyn chuckled and tugged on the sleeve of the gamekeeper's large coat. Hagrid glanced down at him and Kevyn said, "Sir, Keerah is my twin." He managed a peek around Hagrid, which seemed rather difficult to do, and Kat followed suit. Sure enough, Keerah was sitting at a table inside with two boys and two other girls.

"Well now," said Hagrid, "that makes sense." Then turning to Kevyn he said, "You don need to call me 'Sir'. Hagrid is jus fine." He paused and then beckoned the three of them inside. Kat followed Kevyn and Irene into the large room. Introductions were made all around as Kat and Kevyn had never met Nadia, Marcus, Esther, or David and the same was true of Keerah and Irene. This also led to a full reiteration of the relationships between the five Pride children for Kat's sake.

* * *

Pretty soon they were all chatting with each other and Hagrid like they'd known each other for much longer than a few minutes. 

At some point the conversation had somehow drifted over to Quidditch and Keerah found herself listening closely to David's description of how the game was played.

"I take it yer plannin' on tryin' out next year," said Hagrid when the red haired boy finished.

He turned as red as his hair and even redder when Esther said, "I think he's been planning on it since he was old enough to fly a broomstick on his own."

Keerah herself was rather taken with the notion. She pictured herself in the red Gryffindor Quidditch robes flying around the Pitch. Beater seemed to be the position that attracted her the most. She could just see herself slamming a bludger towards an opposing chaser.

Suddenly Keerah realized everyone was staring at her. She quickly looked down, hoping her face wasn't as red as it looked. _Note to self, never do that again._

Everyone laughed and Irene suggested moving the conversation to something they currently could participate in, the play. Soon everyone besides Kat and Keerah was talking about trying out. These two seemed to feel the stage wasn't the place for them. Kat promised to support the group and Keerah decided to show up and sign up for stage crew. Conversations about which people would fit which parts seemed to take up the rest of their visit and soon they were all on their way back to the castle.

* * *

"We should get together as a group more often," said Nadia, as they stood at the top of the stairs on the first floor. 

_It's a good idea,_ thought Esther, _the only problem is finding a time when it would work._

She began running through possibilities in her head when Irene stumbled upon one that she hadn't considered. "We could get together during break."

"Right," said Kevyn, "there are always lots of people in around the grounds then. No one would notice much if one of the groups wasn't completely made up of people from one house.

At first Esther wondered why he'd brought that up, but then considered how uncommon to see students from different houses mixing. After some talk about where to meet they finally decided on a spot to meet that was easy to recognize and drifted off towards their separate houses. Esther noticed as they left that Nadia whispered something to Irene. The two girls went separate ways, but as Nadia reached Esther she whispered, "Meeting in the den," then sped up to say the same to Marcus.

Esther started to wonder what was up, but decided curiosity could wait. She'd find out soon enough.

* * *

They sat in the octagonal center of the Hogwarts Den facing Nadia. Nadia herself was pacing the floor nervously. _You can tell them this. It's only a suspicion and nothing for you to worry about telling them._ Finally she faced them. 

"Kat is the tiger," she said, "it all fits too well."

The others looked startled, but Irene broke out first. "It makes so much sense," she said, "Kevyn is the coon and Keerah the horse just like we suspected. The tiger was a Hufflepuff, so Kat easily fits the part because she knows the twins."

"Only one problem," said David, "who's the dragon? He's supposed to be in Slytherin and none of those three have mentioned another member of their group."

"We're supposed to meet him too. The prophecy said, 'horse and tiger, dragon and coon, cubs of Pride they will meet soon,' so we're supposed to meet them all," said Marcus, "I think it's just a matter of time.

"But how much time do we have?" said David.

"The prophecy really doesn't say, but it would seem the rest isn't going to happen before those first two lines do," said Esther, "Danger's prophecies don't really give a time factor so we have no idea how fast things will move once we do meet all four."

"Plus if we were in danger of not figuring it out knowing who the horse, coon, and tiger are should have made the other lines clearer so we could act on them," Nadia pointed out.

"Some of it is clearer," said Irene, "we know 'Starwing's daughter' is me and 'Lion's daughter' is you."

"If we'd paid attention to those parts when we first read it through we would have figured that out just as quick as what the first ten lines meant," retorted David.

"Still," came back Nadia, "it's something. These lines aren't just going to make sense because we want them to. If they were, we'd know what it all means already and we might end up trying to stop it from happening which could make things worse than if we figure them out a little late!"

"But we have more than half the prophecy to solve," David shouted.

"Stop it!" shouted Esther. Everyone stared at her. Esther looked like her mother, minus that her hair was red rather than brown, and she had always been fairly quiet. Now they saw that she too capable of having authority when no one else could.

"Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere," she said. She waited a bit before continuing. "David is right, we do need to consider the time element here, but Nadia is also right. Danger's prophecies always make sense when they need to, so if it was important to know what it means we would."

Everyone sat there for a while before Marcus said, "She's right." They all nodded in agreement and then he added, "Now let's get moving or we'll be late for auditions and Kevyn and Keerah will wonder what happened to us."

Everyone got up and most began to rush to the red bedroom while Irene parted and headed for the blue. Nadia watched her before turning to the red thinking,_ It must be nice not to have to wait to use the passageway._

* * *

Kevyn sat in the Great Hall as numbers were called for auditions. He was nervous as he'd ever felt before, but had some people here with him. Irene and her cousins were all trying out and Keerah had come to sign up for stage crew. 

"Number 18," called the woman Irene had introduced him to earlier as Aletha, her adoptive grandmother. He stood up. 18 was his number.

"Good luck," said Irene, giving his hand a squeeze. He got up there and was handed a part to read for the scene. Irene was the last one called for the group leaving her cousins Esther and Nadia seated with Keerah, waiting for the next group.

"Follow me," said Aletha, and she lead them into a room off to the side.

_Here goes nothing,_ Kevyn thought.

* * *

Later Kevyn and Irene sat in the Ravenclaw common room discussing auditions. 

"I don't think I'll get in," said Kevyn, "I'm too quiet."

"Well, that was mostly nerves," said Irene, "your singing audition was actually one of the really good ones in our group."

"That's easy for you to say. I have to wonder if Aletha could recognize you despite the blindfolding spell she was wearing."

"I know I'm good, so I had more confidence is all. I bet you next year you will have the confidence needed to be louder because you'll have a success from this year to boost it."

"Right, so you say. I still am going to doubt I'll get a part. You, on the other hand, I bet will make it in."

"Tell you what," she said, "If you don't make it in you get bragging rights."

"What if I do make it in?"

"I get a photo of you, me, and any of my cousins who make it in costume along with Keerah in backstage black to remember it by."

"What have I got to lose?" he asked.

"Not much," she responded.

"That was a rhetorical question."

"I know. So, do we have a deal?"

"Sure," Kevyn said, and extended his hand to shake on it. He had a feeling he was going to be right anyways, but Irene had a smile on that said she saw this ending differently. He was only glad they wouldn't have to wait very long to find out.

* * *

As it was the days between auditions and the cast list being posted flew by. Days were filled with classes, homework, and time with friends. The five cubs and three friends got together every chance they could. 

Kevyn was on his way over to the bulletin board when his path was blocked by Irene. She looked rather pleased and Kevyn moved over out of the way to talk to her.

"I got in," she said, "I'm Downy, one of the four ducklings."

"That's good," said Kevyn. The ducklings all had speaking parts and during scenes they were in were, at some points, a chorus in and of themselves, the four of them singing a separate part from the other cast members. "Who are the rest," he asked.

"We're two of them," said Nadia, walking up with David.

Irene giggled and said, "Allow me to introduce Beaky and Fluff." Nadia curtsied and David bowed, then all four broke into laughter.

"So who's the last one?" asked Kevyn.

The other three exchanged smug looks then surrounded Kevyn in a group hug saying, "Brother!"

It took a moment for Kevyn to register that he had lost the bet. "So I'm Billy," he said, "and I owe you a photograph of the four of us, Keerah, and who else?"

"Marcus, Esther, and Selene," said David, "the whole lot of us got in."

"Selene must have tried out Sunday because I didn't see her there when we were," said Irene.

"What parts?" asked Kevyn, suddenly eager to see how he had compared to the others.

"I'm Jay Bird, the news reporter," said Selene coming up to the foursome. Kevyn noticed something different about her, and he realized it was her hair. It was shorter than normal and bright blue. She could easily pass for a boy.

Selene noticed him staring and asked, "So what do you think? I'm going to show this to the directors and see if they want my hair this way in the show."

"It's definitely different, but you're probably the only person whose parents wouldn't freak out at you having hair like that in the show," said David.

Selene turned to go find Professor Sprout and Irene continued answering Kevyn's question. "Esther got the part of Penny, the girl swan the ugly duckling falls in love with."

"And Marcus is…"

"The Ugly Duckling himself," said Esther leading Marcus over to the group.

Everyone congratulated him on getting the lead role in the play. Meanwhile Kevyn pictured Esther and Marcus side by side in white singing the duet that Penny and Ugly had. It was an interesting picture, and he only hoped there would be a spot backstage where he could watch and get a look at the real thing.

They walked along in the hallways listening to friends congratulate each other on parts in the play. Odd comments kept catching their ears.

"Wonder what houses the kids playing 'my ducklings' are in?"

"Weasley and Potter are probably in Gryffindor, I'm not sure about the other two."

"Lowbutt, what kind of character name is that?"

"The character is a chicken girl, get over the name. It seems like it's a decent part."

"I'm the 'Bullfrog'; my character doesn't even get a name."

"Whatever you do mate, don't croak."

This promised to be an interesting play.

* * *

Later that day they found Keerah and Kat and all nine sat around discussing the play. Nadia had introduced Selene to Kevyn, Keerah, and Kat, and then taken her aside to discuss their suspicion that these were the coon, horse, and tiger of the prophecy. 

Selene looked at them now. The only real reason for suspicion was the fact of the three different houses. The genders matched up too, and that made it seem even more likely, but the truth was they were missing the final piece of the puzzle.

Suddenly she realized Keerah was calling someone over to the group. Kevyn and Kat noticed the person and began calling as well. Selene turned and saw a boy approaching. His hair was messy and just on the dark side of 'Weasley red'. He was wearing robes with a Slytherin crest and a green and silver tie.

'_The dragon dwells beneath the lake within the house of silver snakes,'_ came to her head. Could this be the missing puzzle piece? The boy, Louis, was a Slytherin and had met the other three on the train.

'_The four shall meet, but fast shall part for dragon knows not his own heart,'_ again a couplet from the prophecy. She couldn't be the only one to see this, could she?

The boy soon excused himself saying he'd only stopped to say hello and ran to catch up with a group of other first year Slytherins. Selene chanced a glance at Nadia, and Nadia motioned her off to the side.

When they got there Selene said, "Tell me I wasn't the only one to see the similarity."

"He's the dragon," said Nadia with surety, "I'll tell the others later, but I'm sure of it. It all fits together too well for this to be wrong."

Selene nodded in agreement and the two girls rejoined the group. It seemed the first part of the prophecy had been solved.

* * *

Beachbeagle: Ok, first things first I'd like to thank our newly hired editor Dyrek and our beta reader Andy. They're a couple friends of Gecko and Me who are helping us make sure these chapters sound good and don't have too many typos. 

Gecko: Yay for betas and editors!!! Second thing, this is mostly him writing out ideas we had come up with earlier cause I was at a friends house all weekend

Beachbeagle: Yeah. Also, sorry to Whydoyouneedtoknow if I've been slightly annoying with all the questions I've been sending you. I know you haven't gotten much in a verbal thank you and that was really rude of me. Thank you for your help with this. I'm really sorry for not saying this sooner.

Gecko: Next chapter will continue with play practices and classes, and maybe more...probably more since all everyday stuff would make a boring chapter

Beachbeagle: That's all that we actually have planned thus far, but there will be more plot stuff. I've been asked to lengthen chapters and I'm trying to work on it. I know the 3 1/2 pages I added this time isn't much, but I ran out of ideas Gecko and I had come up with.

Gecko: I'll help him this time I promise...It'll be longer

Beachbeagle: Lastly I now have a FanFiction section on my website. Just click on the homepage button on our profile and you'll go directly there. From there you can get to my profile, Gecko's profile, and a page for review responses. Which brings me to please read and review. See you next chapter.


	4. A Feeling of Forever

**Chapter Four: A Feeling of Forever**

"Guess what class we have today?" said Irene as she and Kevyn left the Great Hall. For a rare moment she sounded less than thrilled.

"Please don't tell me we've got Defense," Kevyn pleaded.

"Do I have permission to lie?"

Kevyn turned to Irene and grimaced. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dyllus had a nasty habit of getting off topic in class discussions, making them last longer than would have been necessary. Both Kevyn and Irene had taken a dislike to him because very little got done in class.

"I swear," said Kevyn, "sometimes I wonder how he got the job."

"He must have impressed Professor McGonagall, or she wouldn't have hired him. There must have been very good qualities she liked," said Irene.

"It must have been a very good show if she saw past how he can't stick to the topic without telling a personal story related to everything we say."

"Look, all you have to do is make it through class. The homework is never that hard."

"What homework? He hardly every gives any out."

Irene grumbled. With Kevyn in a mood like this it promised to be a long class.

* * *

"You know, I have a theory that Hitler was actually a vampire."

_Here we go,_ thought Kevyn,_ another journey into the off topic mind of Professor Dyllus._

"Think about it," continued the professor, "he was insane, evil, calculating, and liked killing. Also he took poison and shot himself when he committed suicide, which indicates a necessity for unconventional means of death."

Kevyn glanced at his watch wishing time would go by faster. They had been talking about vampires and the means of defeating them, now Professor Dyllus was off on a random tangent as usual.

Kevyn's mind began to wander off towards the play practice that would be occurring tonight. They were already two weeks into rehearsals and Kevyn was finding he really liked theatre. When he told Irene that, she'd given him a look that said, 'I knew you would.' Irene seemed to know a lot about people that they didn't, and Kevyn had to wonder why that was.

After a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to figure out Irene's secret he let his thoughts return to the classroom and found that Professor Dyllus had drifted from talk of Hitler, to WWII, and then onto the magical involvement in the war.

As class ended the Professor called, "As we haven't finished our discussion we will continue it next class, no homework today."

_Not that that's and different from every other class we've had,_ thought Kevyn, but mostly he was simply glad to be out of there. _I don't know how I'm going to stand having him as a teacher all year._

* * *

"Ducklings, Ugly, Bullfrog, Queenie, Lowbutt, geese, and swan family, we're working on Poultry Tale first today so you have some free time right now," said Aletha as they walked into the Great Hall for practice that night.

Nadia found herself, Kevyn, and most of her relatives sitting at a table a short ways from where everyone was rehearsing. Poultry Tale was the opening song, and the ducklings didn't hatch until the next one. Ugly hatched another song after them, so Marcus wasn't needed either. The swans, Bullfrog, Queenie, Lowbutt, and the geese weren't members of the farmyard community Ida and Drake lived in so that took them out of the opening scene too.

She found herself staring at Kevyn who was talking animatedly with Irene, David, and Esther. It was October; a whole month since they'd met the twins and just about as long since they'd met Kat. Why did they still keep secrets from those three? Louis didn't seem like such a big issue because he spent less time with the group, but Kevyn, Kat, and Keerah spent all their free time with the cubs.

"A penny for your thoughts," said Marcus from next to her.

"Esther's Penny, I'm Fluff," she said. It was a pathetic attempt at humor. She turned to see Marcus giving her a look that said, 'I was trying to be serious,' and sighed. "It's Kevyn, Keerah, and Kat. It's October now, so we've known them for a month."

"Yes, so what about that is bugging you?"

"It's the Hogwarts den," she said, "They've become our best friends in the school…."

"Best friends?"

"They're certainly not our only ones, but they're far closer to us than anyone else."

"I get it," said Marcus, "you think we should share the secret with them now. Show them the den and effectively make them a part of our Pride."

"In a way, yes," said Nadia, "only we really aren't a Pride aside from being the children of the original Pride and the Pack. We've never sworn the oath."

"We've never needed to," said Marcus, "because we've always been really close. Besides which we don't know the oath."

"Well I guess that's the difference between Padfoot and Moony and Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron has a bigger mouth and accidentally told all of us kids once. The rest of the Pride wasn't too happy, but we do know it now."

"Those of you that have good enough memories of the incident…," started Marcus.

"That's still enough to teach it to the rest so we could swear it if we wanted to," said Nadia, "not that I think we're ready for that."

"Ducklings, we're moving on to Joy of Motherhood," called Aletha.

"You need to get up there. We'll talk to the others about this in the den tonight. I'll tell Esther, you tell Irene and David," Marcus said as she stood up.

"I'll tell them if I can, but considering we still don't have a decision on whether to tell Kevyn yet I might not be able to. Hard to get three ducklings of four in one place when we're supposed to stick together on stage."

* * *

The she turned and joined the other three heading to stage.

"So what do you think?" asked Nadia. She and Marcus had just finished telling the other three about their conversation at practice.

"I think maybe we should do it," said Irene, "They can always choose not to be part of the Pride, but they'd keep our secret even if they didn't choose to."

"When do we do it?" asked Esther.

"On a den night," said David. "Show them all of it at once. Show them the Pride, but make it obvious what being Pride means to us and what it could mean for them."

"Halloween," said Irene, "that's always been a special den night. It's one of the nights that eventually led to the creation of the Pack. A perfect one for showing them that den nights are to remind us of how we came to be where we are."

"The bad memories will be a prominent thing that night," said Nadia, "since it's the whole reason I never met one set of my grandparents."

"That's the thing though," said Marcus, "being Pride and Pack was never just about remembering the good things that brought us to where we are."

Nadia glanced around the room at the rest. They all seemed to agree that Halloween would be the right night. It did seem appropriate to her, to introduce them to den on that night. "Right then," she said, "so we're all agreed on Kevyn, Keerah, and Kat coming to the den on Halloween."

* * *

"Come on tell me," pleaded Kevyn. Irene had just told him she and her cousins had a surprise in store for Halloween night, but wouldn't tell him what.

"Nope, it's a surprise. Besides that, you might figure it out even with hints being a Ravenclaw," she said, smiling what could almost be called a smirk.

"So you're going to tell me and make me wait a month to find out?"

"Yep," she turned and started towards their first class. Kevyn got up and was on her heels immediately, begging her to tell him.

"That isn't fair! You're making me wonder what's going on for a full month," he whined.

"You were the one who asked why I was smiling," she said.

She did have a point, he had asked. "But I wouldn't have if I'd known."

"But you didn't know, hence you asked, hence you know, and I'm still not telling. You have nothing to blame but your own curiosity."

* * *

Thankfully for Kevyn classes, homework, and practice for the play made the rest of the month go by quickly. Time was consumed by these things and what little free time he had was spent with his friends. Now he sat at the Ravenclaw table for the Halloween feast and wasn't even thinking about what was supposed to happen that night.

"Ready for tonight?" asked Irene.

"I hadn't even been thinking about it," he said, surprised he could forget. Suddenly his curiosity about this 'surprise' was in the front of his mind. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Nope," she replied with a smile, "you'll learn everything when you need to know it. Might not be me telling you it either."

"Come again?"

"I might not be the one to explain things to you."

"But you and your cousins are the only ones in on this…" he started, then a look crossed his face, "How are your cousins going to be involved in this if they're in Gryffindor?"

"That's something for you, Keerah, and Kat to find out."

"Kat? Kat's in Hufflepuff. How can she be part of this?" Irene's silence was really starting to worry him. There was no way to involve their whole group in something after hours without breaking rules. It would mean all of them being out of their dormitories wandering the halls at night. They'd be caught by Filch for sure.

Irene seemed to find his confusions funny as he said, "Irene, we'll get in trouble if we're out in the halls at night."

"We're not going to be in the halls," said Irene as if this point were obvious. Kevyn looked even more dumbfounded at this statement and Irene took his open mouth as a chance to direct a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth. This was her typical response when Kevyn's mouth was hanging open, stick food in it.

When he glared at her with his mouth full, as he usually did after one of these incidents, she only said, "Eat the food, Kevyn. Nothing is going to happen until after the feast anyways."

* * *

As Kat was leaving the Great Hall Nadia motioned her aside. Joining the redheaded girl in standing by the hallway wall so as to not be swept away by traffic Kat asked, "What is it?"

Nadia glanced around like she didn't want anyone to hear, then leaned in and whispered, "Don't sleep in the dormitory tonight. Just change, close the curtains so people can't tell you're not there, and bring bedding and anything else you need to sleep down to the common room. Go to the right side of the fireplace and say, 'Stealth mode. Thank you Helga.' It will open a passageway. Repeat the password after climbing in. We'll meet you where the passage ends."

After she finished the other girl turned and was lost in a sea of students.

* * *

Keerah followed Nadia and Esther down the stairs from the girls' dormitory into the Gryffindor common room. They'd just changed into their pajamas and closed the curtains on their beds so no one would know they weren't there. Now as they carried bedding and stuffed animals downstairs Keerah wondered what was going on. They were only giving her directions as they went, so she knew nothing of what was going on.

They reached the common room and went to the right side of the fireplace where David and Marcus joined them. Keerah heard Nadia say something that sounded like, "Stealth mode, thank you Godric," and a hole opened in the wall.

Nadia slid down first and a little bit later Keerah heard her call, "Clear."

Esther motioned for Keerah to go next, so she climbed into the passageway and slid down into the darkness.

* * *

Kevyn found himself suddenly dropping out of the dark passageway and landing on something soft. He looked around himself and discovered a bedroom decorated all in blue. His landing pad was apparently the bed.

He climbed off and, remembering Irene's instructions, called, "Clear," so she'd know he was out of the way. A few moments later she landed on the bed he'd just vacated. When she'd climbed off and recollected her slightly scattered bundle of bedding she began to head for the door.

Kevyn suspected he was supposed to follow her, and when they exited the blue bedroom he found himself in an octagonal room. Kat was being led by Nadia into the main room from one of two doors with a yellow banner and Keerah was standing with Esther, David, and Marcus near the door of one of two rooms with red banners. Two more rooms had green banners above the doors and one had a blue banner.

He turned around and noted that the door he'd just exited had a blue banner above it as well. Each door was located in one of the eight walls. The center room was spacious and currently empty, and the floor felt very squishy and comfortable.

Nadia, David, Irene, Marcus, and Esther began arranging their bedding in spots on the floor in a rough circle, but there was obviously space in the circle for three more people. Kevyn moved forward, Kat and Keerah doing the same, and arranged himself next to Irene, spreading his blankets out and then sprawling down with his pillow and stuffed Snoopy.

When everyone had gotten comfortable Nadia spoke saying, "Be welcome all to this den night. We are Pride now. Pride together."

The others chorused, "Pride forever," Kevyn, Keerah, and Kat following a slightly after the other four.

Next David spoke, "Who will tell us a story? Who will remind us what it is to be Pride?"

There wasn't a response for a while. Then Kat said, "What does it mean to be Pride? What is Pride?"

"Well," said Irene, "that's a story in itself. Since three people here don't know it, it's a fitting one to tell at our den night."

"Right," said Esther, "especially since a lot of it began on Halloween night 29 years ago."

So the story was told, each of the five Pride children taking turns in the telling. The story began at the deaths of Nadia's grandparents, Lily and James Potter, at the hand of Lord Voldemort. Roughly a year later David and Rose Granger, Esther and David's maternal grandparents, were killed by death eaters. This eventually lead to Gertrude "Danger" Granger babysitting a little Harry Potter while caring for her little sister Hermione, which also led to meeting Remus "Moony" Lupin.

As it turned out Danger was a witch with latent magic and now had the ability to tame werewolves, Remus was a werewolf. Danger had been having prophetic visions and when she and Remus went over it again they solved it. This led to reuniting with an old friend of both named Aletha Freeman and eventually to kidnapping Harry and freeing Sirius "Padfoot" Black, Harry's godfather and Aletha's lover, from Azkaban.

The four adults and two children lived in a duplex that Aletha had previously lived in, all but Aletha using false identities outside of the house. Eventually six became eight. First Meghan Black was born to Aletha and Sirius. Next, after an incident that almost gave away the group now known as the "Pack," they legally adopted Draco Black, formerly Draco Malfoy.

Eventually the Pack had to stand trial for the crimes Sirius was falsely accused of and for freeing him and kidnapping Harry. Before being split up for a whole night, one where they didn't know if they'd ever be a family again after it, they swore an oath of love that forever bound them together.

"That oath," said Irene "is what we call the Pack oath. The Pride came along later and consisted of the four Pack children, or the cubs, and their four closest friends. Those friends were Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Ron Weasley"

"Those are your parents, aren't they?" said Keerah.

"The connection didn't take much to make, did it?" said Nadia.

"Well, that sort of answers my question of the Pride is, it sounds like it's the same as Pack, but a group containing all similar age people. Pack has children and adults," said Kat. "It still doesn't answer my question of what it means to be Pride or Pack."

"Well," said Marcus, "Danger once said that Pack is hands that are always holding yours, not matter how close or far apart you may be. Pack is having someone who is always there and will always, always care. Pack is a feeling of forever in the heart. The same could be applied to Pride."

"I was wondering something," said Kevyn. The others motioned for him to continue. "Well, you five are technically Pride by birth since that was your parents, but Keerah, Kat, and I really aren't. We've never sworn the oath so we can't really call ourselves Pride."

"Well, the first times our parents swore the oath before creating the Pride they didn't do more than say the words," said Esther "We could do that. Be warned that it is magically binding though."

"Well, what do we do?" said Keerah.

"Since we're in a circle we only need to sit up," said Marcus. The eight children did so, and then sat that way in silence while Nadia whispered to Marcus. Finally Marcus turned and spoke again. ""We now will swear an oath. Hear me speak it first, and then look around you. If there is anyone here to whom you cannot swear this, depart now, for this oath is binding by magic, and the one who breaks it will never find rest, by day or by night, in life or in death. Hear me now—

"My hand in yours,

"My wand with yours,

"My life for yours,

"Now and always.

"Is there any here who does not wish to swear?"

No one said anything.

Marcus continued, "Then join hands, and speak the oath with me, three times, to make it truly binding upon us all."

They joined hands and began to repeat the oath.

"My hand in yours,

"My wand with yours,

"My life for yours,

"Now and always."

The first time was shaky, people weren't together. The second time was more together and louder. The third time was the loudest and this time they were all in unison.

The silence after the oath had a very comfortable and safe feeling. For a while after it no one spoke and Kevyn simply let the feeling wash over and through him.

"Now," Nadia said finally, "we are officially a Pride."

"Minus the pendants," said Esther, "but those can come later if ever."

"Should we end the den night now?" asked David.

"One more question first," said Keerah, "what is the significance of den nights, how did they start?"

"Well," said Irene, "den nights started as an every night thing for the sakes of Harry and Padfoot and then were brought back when Draco was adopted. They were meant to make them feel safe in the new environment, especially from the things that scared them about their old lives. Eventually they became something that happened only on the full moon and special nights…"

"The full moon being monthly and having to do with Moony being a werewolf," Marcus added quickly.

"…Yes," Irene continued "The importance of den nights stands in reminding us of how we got to where we are, through both the good and bad things that brought us here."

"Halloween is one of the special nights," said Nadia, "originally because of my grandparents; also, now, because Halloween was when our parents defeated Voldemort."

"It's a time of beginnings and ends," said Irene, "the beginning of the Pack story and the end of the war."

"And now the beginning of our Pride group as well," said Esther.

"That's kind of neat really," said Kat, "we made a special night even more special."

Esther spoke now saying, "Now we'll end the den night. I bid you good night and fair dreams. May this coming night rest us all, and may we rise in the morning stronger for it."

The rest responded, "May it be so." Again Kevyn, Kat, and Keerah were slower at responding, but it didn't matter. Kevyn suspected the next den night they went to they would be together with the others, and the ones that came after that as being Pride promised many more den nights to come.

As he lay down to go to sleep Irene whispered, "Hold my hand."

"Why?" he asked.

"Our den night may have been ended, but we have one more surprise for you. Being in the same room as us, especially this one, and having sworn the oath may be enough to bring you with, but it never hurt to be overly cautious."

"Okay."

He took her hand and lay down, finding sleeping in this odd room surprisingly easy. It had an air of comfort and safety, and the presence of friends amplified that.

As he drifted off to sleep his last thought was, _I could get used to this_.

* * *

Keerah knew she was sleeping in the octagonal room where they had denned, but found she was now standing with the other eight members of her Pride out on the Hogwarts grounds. The sun was shining, the leaves were green, and it was much warmer than it should be for October.

_My Pride_, she thought, _I like the sound of that._

Her mind returned to the present as they were joined in the scene by a group of twelve adults – four of which were older than the other eight – and several children.

The children ran forward and began hugging Irene, Nadia, David, Esther, and Marcus, leaving Kevyn, Kat, and Keerah standing alone.

The adults motioned them over and Kevyn smiled at one, the older of the two dark-skinned ladies, saying "Hi Mrs. Freeman-Black."

"Please, Kevyn, I've told you before you can call me Letha as my grandchildren and son do," said Letha.

"I know, it just seems… weird."

"Well," said one of the men, "I suppose not everyone is used to calling their friends' parents by nicknames." Keerah studied him. He had black hair, green eyes, glasses, and his bangs blew aside in the light breeze to reveal a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"You're Nadia's dad, Harry Potter, right?" she and Kevyn asked simultaneously. The two of them always had been observant.

"Oi," said a red-headed man who looked like an older version of David, "we've got another set of twins here." Two adults chuckled at this comment, a brunette woman who resembled Esther and a pale-blonde man.

"Well," said the woman Kevyn had been told to call Letha, "we should make a round of introduction for you three. You don't know us and we don't know you, except in the case of Kevyn and me."

"Very well," said the pale-blonde man, "I'll go first. We should introduce the adults then the children rather than everyone at once. It will be less confusing." After a nod from one of the older men he continued, "I'm Draco Black, Irene's father."

"And I am her mother, Luna Black," said a woman. She too had blonde hair and Keerah noticed both Irene's parents had silver-grey eyes. It was impossible to tell who she resembled more.

The red-haired man spoke next, "I'm Ron Weasley, David and Esther's father."

"And I'm their mother, Hermione Weasley," said the brunette woman.

"You already know who I am," said Harry, "Nadia's father."

"And I am her mother, Ginny Potter," said a woman who looked much like an older version of Nadia.

"The remainder of the Pride would be myself," said the younger dark-skinned woman, "and my husband. I am Meghan Longbottom. You haven't met either of my children yet, but Marcus is my younger brother."

"And I am Neville Longbottom, though the rest call me Captain." Keerah studied the man, brunette and rather average.

Now the four older adults stepped forward as did Kevyn.

"Don't do introductions," Kevyn said, "we were told the story of the Pack tonight in den and I want to try and guess." The four adults motioned for him to continue so he said, "Since I already know Letha, you must be Danger Granger-Lupin." He indicated a woman who resembled both Hermione and Esther, which made sense with sisters or an aunt and niece.

Kevyn turned to the men. "Padfoot, or Sirius Black would be you," he indicated a man with longish black hair and a mustache, "leaving you to be Remus 'Moony' Lupin." This time he pointed at the other man, a brunette with eyes a mixture of blue and brown.

"Well then," said Danger, "If you get to guess then so do I. From the letters the cubs have been writing it shouldn't be too hard."

She turned to Kevyn, "You are logical and intelligent. You are also the only boy we haven't met, which means you're Kevyn Hollens….." Next she turned to Keerah, "….Ron's comment about twins leaves you to be Keerah Hollens, though appearances would have given it away too…." Lastly she turned to Kat, "Which leaves you being Kat Hart. We are pleased to meet all three of you."

Should we call the cubs over?" asked Draco.

"No," said Danger, "these three have some questions that will be best answered without the chaos."

"How did you know….," started Kevyn, but then he stopped. He seemed to think for a minute before saying, "Wait, it was a prophetic vision wasn't it?"

"Yes," said Danger, "I only get them once a year now, but I'm not the only one who does. This was one of Luna's. It didn't say much really –

_On this night of beginnings and ends_

_You shall meet three special friends._

_Questions answered they shall need_

_For the future they shall lead._

_For now the tiger, coon, and horse_

_Have been started on their course._"

"What does that mean?" asked Keerah.

"Well," said Danger, "the first four lines simply told us of meeting you and to answer your questions. The final two refer to a prophecy I had earlier this year – my usual yearly one – as the tiger, coon, and horse were in there. I take it this is saying those parts of the prophecy referred to you three."

"So," said Letha, "what questions do you have?"

"First, what is this?" said Kat.

"This is called a dreamsculpting," said Danger, "It's a form of lucid dreaming. A magical dreamsculpter can direct the path of a dream, what they do in it, and what the place looks like with more control over setting, and can also pull anyone they like into the dream with them, as long as that person is sleeping and they have a connection of some sort. Typically the power is most common in muggle-born witches and wizards. I'd be happy to teach you if you'd like, Kat."

"Wow…. You really think I can do it?" Kat sounded stunned and far away.

"The only way to find out would be to try. I think the best time for that would be Christmas as we were planning on visiting Hogwarts for it this year," answered Danger.

"So, who's directing this dreamsculpt?" asked Kevyn.

"Actually, because of the number of people, Danger, Hermione, and I are sharing the control," said Draco.

After a few more questions the children were called over and more introductions were made. First came Irene's biological siblings, Jacob and Cissy, and her adoptive sibling Bobby. They were told Bobby was also biologically related, but more distantly. Then Nadia's brothers Noah and James. Next were Brian and Tim, the Weasley twins' younger brothers. Then were the Longbottom children Liam and Amy, Liam the eldest was still two years from going to Hogwarts. Then there was Marcus's little brother Jason. Lastly were the Granger-Lupin kids, Abby and John.

"Wow," said Kevyn, "I thought the family was big just hearing about it…"

"But seeing it is something else," Keerah finished.

Ron groaned, never having gotten used to twins finishing each other's sentences, and everyone laughed. Then the cubs and friends dispersed, leaving the adults free to talk. For Keerah, the rest of the evening was spent playing games and having fun on the summery Hogwarts lawn of the dreamsculpt.

* * *

Beachbeagle: First thanks to everyone who helped with this chapter, but especially to Alex, Buffy, and Scott, a few friends from a chat who helped with some parts. Alex gave me Professor Dyllus's off topic tangent, Buffy was the one who gave the description of the meaning of Pack, and Scott helped me describe dreamsculpting

Gecko: Thank you guys for helping, especially since I don't get online much because I'm in the middle of planning and raising money for my spring break trip to Alabama.

Beachbeagle: Next, three things you might want to check out; two Dangerverse pictures on my DeviantART account and a one shot crossover between DV and A Wrinkle in Time, which was written by me alone. The pictures can be found at beachbeagle (dot) deviantart (dot) com.

Gecko: And a big announcement for those of you who have been following this story since we started. Due to new information Matt discovered we have added on a couple of characters in chapters 1 and 3.

Beachbeagle: Yeah, basically this is built off of a future story Anne Walsh wrote and a few of the characters weren't mentioned in the story. We made a decision between the two of us that four chapters in wasn't too late to change it.

Gecko: So a couple of new names are now in the story but the plot line has not changed.

Beachbeagle: That's all for now. Next chapter seems like it will be more classes, play practice, and you'll probably start seeing more of Louis too.

Gecko: Thanks for reading and we will attempt to update soon, hopefully before I leave for spring break and disappear from the internet for a week.


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